Photo Special to the Dispatch by Mike Jaquays
Aeryn Mitchell, left, and her mom Diane Mitchell pose with their dog Maggie at their temporary home in Oneida on Wednesday. The Mitchells were forced from their own East Walnut Street home during the flooding on June 28.

ONEIDA >> Even as flood waters in the Flats section of the city have displaced Diane Mitchell and her daughter Aeryn from their East Walnut Street home, Mitchell said her faith in God has never wavered.

In fact, it's the main driving force that will see her through this upheaval in their lives, she explained.

"My faith is keeping me going," Diane said. "If I didn't have that I wouldn't be able to get through this. I wouldn't have hope without my faith in Jesus."

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Diane said her life was getting on a pretty good track in the months leading up to the massive flood on June 28. Although her husband Les died of cancer in January 2005, she was finally at a place where she was living comfortably - she had paid off her mortgage four months ago, and just bought a 2013 Hyundai Elantra Coop.

I was at the point where I thought Les would be really proud of me, that just myself and Aeryn managed to do this on our own," she said. "We had been trying to find a new normal after Les died, and we had finally gotten to a place where I thought we could live comfortably."

The morning of June 28 was a shock to that feeling of comfort. Aeryn was supposed to be with her Madison Cortland ARC day habilitation group, but had a virus so she stayed home. They were both sleeping when a frantic call came from next door neighbor and best friend Rose Rinaldo, telling Diane to get herself and Aeryn out of her home.

"Rosie called and said to get out, but at the time I had no idea what was going on," Diane remembered. "I told Aeryn to grab whatever she could and throw it in a suitcase. I think if it would have been just a couple of minutes later we wouldn't have gotten out and would have needed to be rescued - it came on that quick. I had heard about flash flooding but I never thought I would see my life piled out on the front lawn like that."

Diane, Aeryn and their dog Maggie got out of the house as quickly as they could. But even as they were in the car and ready to go with the few possessions they could quickly gather, and as the water level was already up to her ankles, Diane remembered one more important item she was not about to leave in the flooded home - the urn containing Les' ashes.

"I said, 'I'm not leaving you here, Les!'" Diane recalled. She went back inside, but was having trouble unlocking the cabinet where the urn was kept. As she was about to break it open, the lock finally came undone and Diane saved Les' remains from the flood waters.

By the time she got back to the car with the urn, the water had risen up to her knees, Diane said. She started the car and headed down East Walnut Street to higher ground and safety.

They have been staying at the home of Diane's sister and brother-in-law Carol and George Bramwell in Oneida, who graciously moved in with their own daughter to allow Diane and Aeryn the ability to have some privacy in their new surroundings.

"They said, 'we don't have a lot of money, but we can put a roof over your head'," she said. "They've given up their home for us."

Diane is a member of the Abounding Love Fellowship in Durhamville, attending church on Sundays and prayer group meetings on Tuesdays. She said Pastor George Marmon and the congregation have been right there for her and Aeryn in their time of need.

"They came and took everything out of my yucky basement - the pastor and the congregation members were covered head to toe in mud," she said. "That showed me that I am loved."

One of the most interesting outreaches she has seen has come from unexpected sources, Diane noted.

"I have seen how people who have very little or nothing are the first ones to give, while some people who have more have held back," she said.

A group of Mennonites from Ohio - including men, women and children - even traveled into Oneida to help in any way they could. Diane said she stopped to talk with some of them one day, and learned they had heard about Oneida's plight back in Ohio and gathered up their community to come and help out. They were working and toiling at whatever they could do to help just out of the generosity of their hearts, Diane said.

Her son Steve is the pastor at Light and Life Church in Rome, and they also came out to help wash walls and ceilings in the Mitchell home. A friend lent them a generator, while her swim group at the YMCA took up a collection for them. Even her dog groomer reached out to them - when Maggie was through with her recent trim, Diane was told there was no charge because the groomer wanted to do a little something to help her out.

The American Red Cross and Salvation Army have also been constant companions to the people of the Flats, bringing them bagged lunches, water bottles and praying with them.

"All of these acts of kindness really mean a lot," she said.

Diane has been a hospice volunteer for the last six years, returning some of the compassion she saw other volunteers give Les during his final days. She continues that work even as she is uprooted from her home, she said.

Although she and Aeryn have maintained mostly a strong stance in the face of the disaster, Diane admitted both of them occasionally have broken down over their losses. Aeyrn said she and her sister Jill were looking at her old room and she broke down when she saw all of her belongings mangled beyond repair.

"My sister and I saw my bedroom and I started crying," Aeyrn said.

Overall, Diane said Aeryn has been incredibly understanding through the entire ordeal. Aeryn, who many area residents will recognize as a member of the ARC's Wind Dancers, is a pretty flexible young woman. One of the things she now looks forward to most is the time when she will be able to pick out the items for her new bedroom, Aeryn said.

They have already figured they need to replace the furnace, the water heater, and the electric panel in the home, plus pull up the flooring in the living and dining rooms and the paneling from the walls and floor in the back of the house. They had to throw out all of their furniture, and much of it was only a few years old, Diane said.

The most tragic loss to her was irreplaceable family heirlooms.

"We lost everything in the basement, including our Christmas decorations, and some of that were some very sentimental things that Les are I had bought together," Diane said. "Right now I am allowing myself time to grieve, but at the same time I know no matter how many tears I cry they won't change the circumstances."

She says the most important thing for them now is knowing they all got out safely - even Les.

"The memories will always be there, even when the material things aren't," Diane said. "People say it's just 'stuff' and I agree, but it's a little more difficult when it is your stuff."

Diane reflected that they needed to adjust their lives when Les died. Now, at 68 years old, she admits it's kind of difficult to think about having to do it all again - but she knows she has no choice. Her main goal now is to make life as typical as possible for herself and Aeryn even as they are in surroundings they didn't expect to be in at this time.

"It is what it is," she said. "I don't pretend to understand, but God doesn't ask us to understand, only to trust. I don't know yet how this will work out for the good or what lesson should be learned from it; I just believe the Bible is the inspired word of God. I do hope I can learn whatever I'm supposed to learn from this, though, because I don't want to go through this again."